Glomerulonephritis associated with chronic bacterial infection of a dacron arterial prosthesis

Glomerulonephritis associated with severe chronic visceral or systemic infection is being increasingly recognized. The development of glomerulonephritis in association with chronic infection of prosthetic material permanently implanted in the circulatory system has been regularly reported since the description of "shunt nephritis" by Black, Challacombe and Ockenden in 1965. Nearly all of these cases have involved ventriculo-vascular shunts. However, this report documents the apparently rare association between glomerulonephritis and chronic bacterial infection of a bifurcate dacron aorto-bifemoral graft. The need for awareness of glomerulonephritis as a cause of acute renal failure in chronic infective states is highlighted.